The Robin in the Eagle's nest
by lapizlazulijavi
Summary: (Final Haikyuu Quest-Ancient Magus Bride Cross Over) Once upon a time, a baby robin grew surrounded by voices only she could hear, much to the disgust of other birds, who saw her with disdain and left her unhappy with life. One day, flames appeared before her, but before she thought she could finally die, they showed her the way back to a home she had forgotten, where now a white e


Good afternoon-or evening depending on your time zone-. This isn't my first time writing fanfic. You can find some of my older works at (under the same penname as in here) and Tumblr (under Javi150190). This is, however, my first shot at a crossover and my first attempt to use both the Haikyuu and TAMB franchises.

Now, I had thought of doing this for a looooooong time, but this turned into a brainstorming nightmare due to the problem of merging a sports/slice of life setting with a fantasy heavy setting, Eventually I decided to use the Final Haikyuu Quest scenario, as it allowed me to get away with some of the more fantasy heavy aspects of Chise's backstory and gave me an excuse of including Celtic folklore into the fic.

Also, before I started writing this, I read several fics and doujins that used the FHQ setting and it seemed that neither Wakatoshi nor the rest of the Shiratorizawa gang have fixed roles in the setting. Some have them as army officers, some have Wakatoshi as a paladin, there's even Smough!Ushiwaka (no really), so I just went with royalty, because I think it fits him not only as a character but also as a foil to the demon king Oikawa.

Also, I was not the first to notice that Wakatoshi shares voice actors with bone daddy Elias, although I am 99% sure that I'm the only person that ships him with Chise, since essentially Elias is a derpier (yes, really) Ushijima with an even worse understanding of social conventions, and let's be honest, a relationship between the 18 year old Wakatoshi and the 15-16 year old Chise is 100 times easier to sell than in the case of 100 years old (at least), bought a girl from an auction and told her he wanted her as a bride in the same day he purchased her and forcibly undressed her-Elias (-_-).

As for the fanfic, this is essentially a prologue. The rest of the fic will be told mostly from Chise's perspective.

Prologue: Right under our noses

He wasn't sure when he first started to notice that he wasn't alone anymore in the stone hallway anymore.

Wakatoshi had spent a good couple of hours - _Was it three, four, the entire night?-_ trying to process his thoughts following the events of that evening. He - _they-_ had anticipated this event for months, prepared to be as secretive as possible, planning ahead in case the news broke out before he wanted and making sure that generals and advisers he was most suspicious of were as far away as possible from the old stone castle he had chosen as a hideout.

An event such as this couldn't take place in the imperial palace, too many ears in that place made the walls feel like paper.

On the other hand, this place, made of old stone and almost forgotten in a warm corner of the Shiratorizawa empire, was the last place anyone could expect to see the Emperor, much less so in semi-regular clothes and sat in the floor, leaning against the wall and intensely looking at the ceiling.

"My, my, I never thought I would see you this stressed out, _Ushiwaka-chan_ "

Wakatoshi didn't have to speculate much about who could have found him. If the musical pitch of that voice wasn't enough, the infantile nickname would be.

Turning his head towards the end of the hallway, he saw him.

Smiling at him with a grin that reflected so many things Wakatoshi disliked of him - _baseless confidence, joy at the expense of other's disgrace, shameless mockery at those he felt below him-_ was the demon king of Aoba Johsai.

"Maybe I'm having a fever dream and you just are a peasant," the horned imp mocked while making dramatic arms gestures, which only cause Wakatoshi's frown to deepen.

At that moment, the Shiratorizawa emperor was also berating himself for not taking the demon king into account when he planned his hiding place.

" _Well it would be useless to lament now_ ," he corrected himself mentally. Taking a deep breath, he rose from the cold stone floor, ignoring the slight protest from his muscles as they had grown stiff following hours crouched against the wall.

"What are you doing here Oikawa?", he growled lowly as he made his way towards the grinning demon. "I thought you would be glad that I haven't tried to convince you to join my court for a while," he added as he was face to face with the imp.

Oikawa, still keeping his joyful grin, merely nodded like a child about to receive a treat. "And I'm so thankful for that! You have no idea how peaceful it is not having to deal with your _obnoxious invitations!_ " he all but shouted while widely opening his harms.

Wakatoshi's frown deepened even further when he received the childish response. He was about to counter Oikawa when, like a flash, the Demon King's grin changed from childish mockery to sharp venom, making Wakatoshi's jaw tighten as he recognized the challenge in the imp's face.

"But let's just say that even I found that a bit suspicious, Ushiwaka-chan" he whispered, his voice now carrying a hint of challenge towards the emperor.

Oikawa seemed satisfied in the level of alert and uneasiness in Wakatoshi's face, even if he knew that he wasn't the main cause of it.

Feeling emboldened, the demon king took a step forward, lightly pushing Wakatoshi to the side.

"It was very welcome at first, as I was dealing with Shrimpy, Iwa-Chan and the other parade of idiots. You actually made dealing with them easier, so thanks!" he said, hoping to irritate the emperor.

"I must admit though, they are like cockroaches" he added with a false sigh.

"But then I started listening whispers, gossipers around my castle speaking of castle intrigue in the halls of power, of an emperor pressured by the old guard that wanted to force his hand," he continued.

"There's nothing new about that," Wakatoshi cut in sharply, starting to lose patience with Oikawa's theatrics.

"I'm not ashamed to admit that I want to reign without the baggage of elderly advisors" he added, his voice now echoing slightly in the stone halls.

"How rude Ushiwaka-chan", Oikawa pouted like a child. "Haven't your elders told you that it is rude to interrupt somebody before they finished talking?" he teased as if he were a mother nagging her son.

"There were also other rumors, not spoken at the town market by women anxious to share that little bit of knowledge without fearing sermons from the priests or angry gazes from possessive husbands, instead it traveled through the forest. Isolated from human ears, and even the incidental hunter that passed through wouldn't be able to hear it, even if it were right at his side. Do you know why that would be, Ushiwaka-chan?" the demon king said with a teasing grin.

" _Because it wasn't spoken by human beings"_ the emperor thought with a shiver running down his back "I thought the _fae_ preferred to avoid you," he said, his voice now carrying both a deep note of frustration and a lingering sense of caution.

Oikawa just nodded while crossing his arms over his chest. "Indeed, they don't like having me around and they normally keep themselves out of my castle, but I have to tell you, those critters sure are loud when they gossip!" he cackled while jokingly picking his ear with his pinkie.

"I must admit I first ignored them when they started wailing about a _robin_ ," he paused of a second, enjoying how the Shiratorizawa emperor visibly tensed at the last world, yet not enough to break the stoic frown that Oikawa hated so much.

"They said that their _robin_ was prisoner to a dangerous rat, and that it was going to be fed to hungry pigs. Admittedly back then I didn't care, but then they said that a _big scary eagle_ had found the rat"

Wakatoshi didn't budge at the teasing narration, his mind going instead to that eventful evening, a year and a half ago.

 _His eldest advisors had advised him not to attend that audience, arguing that the emperor shouldn't concern himself with such scum. But he was determined to make an example out of this incident._

 _In the two years since he inherited the crown from his now retired grandmother, he had quickly learned that administrating an empire required both pleasing the stubborn nobility and constantly reminding them that he had the power, the drive and the strategic capacity to sack them if needed without threatening his power base._

 _When it came to the second part, this incident was a gift from heaven for Wakatoshi, but even knowing that he couldn't help but feel a rush of disgust at the facts presented before him._

 _Just a couple of nights before, a breathless lieutenant had arrived as the latest council meeting was finishing. At first, the eldest advisers scolded poor Tsutomu for barging in without even knocking the door, but Wakatoshi had knew the eager officer for long enough to know that he wouldn't do such a protocol breach without reason and, most importantly, he knew that the lieutenant was currently stationed outside the capital, so that could only mean one thing, whatever news he had were highly urgent._

 _And he was right. The letter, carrying the seal of his old friend and current spymaster Tendou Satori, was brief but to the point._

 _ **Wakatoshi:**_

 _ **I'll skip the formalities. I just caught a slave dealer who claims that he's working with a general.**_

 _ **You really need to see this in person.**_

 _ **Satori**_

 _Tsutomu added that an arrest had been made in the border. A man had been caught trying to pass through a guarded gate as fast as possible, going as far as knocking the guards down using magic. Unfortunately for the impulsive traveler, the knocked down guards were discovered by the imperial spymaster, who just happened to be there collecting information alongside one of the court sorcerers regarding rumors of suspicious magic activity. Despite not being a sorcerer himself, it only took Satori an evening to catch the slave dealer._

 _Wakatoshi, now with Tsutomu and one of his court's sorcerers Shirabu Kenjirou in tow, rode to a separate guard post to meet up with Satori. But before that, he also made sure of sending a separate letter to the general that was mentioned by Tsutomu (in private, as Satori wisely decided not to disclose that information in his letter in case it was intercepted before Wakatoshi could see it)._

 _The Emperor only told the general that he wanted to see him in person and demand an explanation regarding how a slave dealer was running around under his nose. Wakatoshi knew that issuing an arrest order against the elder official would only result in an expensive manhunt and putting other military heads in alert._

 _The arrived at a provincial post near the edge of one of the border provinces. Still within the area in which the incident had occurred, yet far enough from the main road to difficult any escape attempt once Wakatoshi had the accused general in his presence._

 _The emperor made quick way to the center of the garrison, where Tendou and his investigation partner Semi Eita seemed to be waiting for him._

 _It was close to midnight, yet the guards appeared ready at arms, in case the prisoner attempted a similar trick to make them sleep, although Semi had already taken care of that possibility by confiscating any magic craft material the slave dealer carried, going as far as to gag him and blindfold him in addition to the iron shackles._

" _Has the general arrived yet?" Wakatoshi asked as he approached the two._

" _No ´hello´ or ´good work´? You are getting colder by the second, Wakatoshi," the spymaster replied feigning hurt but keeping his teasing smile._

" _I planned to say that after we're done with this," the emperor countered bluntly. "Where's the general?" he repeated._

" _The old creep is making his way here, according to my spies in the area. It seems that your invitation has left him quite shaken" Satori added. He was about to add something when Semi, seemingly irritated by the long wait, cut in._

" _We also intercepted some of his communications. We already have the evidence to link him to the trafficker and some of the soldiers we gathered info from said that the general has been rather impatient during the last couple of days," he said._

" _Gathered info from? That's an odd way to phrase ´threatened with incineration on the spot if they didn't talk´ Semi-Semi," Tendou teased._

 _That last part made Wakatoshi's eyebrows rise in slight surprise. It also granted a loud gasp from Goshiki and an exasperated sigh from Shirabu._

" _Is that true Eita?" the emperor asked calmly._

 _Semi only took a deep breath. Tendou's teasing accusation left him a bit shaken, but soon he put himself back together._

" _Wakatoshi" he started "if you had seen what we found, you would be as harsh as we have been" he said looking the emperor in the eye._

 _Wakatoshi knew that Eita was more akin to following protocol when talking to him in the open, so the fact that he was calling him without using his royal title at a border military post rose a slight alarm within the emperor._

" _How bad are the slaves?" Kenjirou cut in._

" _There's only one slave" Tendou intervened in a flat tone._

" _That bad?" the younger sorcerer replied_

" _We'll explain later, it seems the guest of honor has arrived" Semi said, Wakatoshi turned around to see the general arriving hastily to the garrison gate, passing through with such a hurry that he was still taking off his helmet when he was approaching the emperor's traveling party._

 _Slightly breathless -Wakatoshi guessed if it was because of his advanced age and the fear of being discovered- general Kota Hideaki made his way to the sovereign._

" _Your majesty," Kota stated while bowing slightly. "I'm really sorry that you have to bother yourself with this lowly scum," he added while still bowed, his voice betraying his insecurity._

 _Wakatoshi could only narrow his eyes at the elder officer. Slavery had been banned from the empire ever since his family took the throne many generations ago. Its abolition had been a staple of his lineage, a fact always highlighted in history books as one of the empire's brightest moments._

 _However, that didn't stop some unscrupulous snakes from incurring into the business of human trafficking, whether be to obtain forced labor, satisfy some unspeakable lust or gather ingredients for some occult ritual._

 _For that same reason, Wakatoshi and his predecessors took it as a personal offense against them. An act against his crown's most notorious achievement._

 _But no matter how furious he was right now, law was the law. The execution would have to wait until both the slave dealer and his customer were before the court._

" _I wouldn't have to be here if you had followed your duty," he all but growled, trying not to let out his fury._

 _Kota tensed when he heard the emperor stern voice, and then he finally rose to meet Wakatoshi's steely gaze._

" _May I ask why there is a slave dealer running around the province? I already sent word to the governor and he's quite displeased, and I'm even more so," Wakatoshi stated. The general attempted to cut in, but it turned out that the monarch was just getting started._

" _Specially because you're his partner," Wakatoshi cut to the chase. He wasn't interested in stretching out this matter, although he got some satisfaction when he saw the general visibly tremble at his accusation._

" _Yo-your majest-ty, I-I do-don't understa-", the officer's voice trembled as he tried to answer back. The emperor's stare hardened even further._

" _Don't waste my time with your lies" he countered coldly. He then gestured to Tendou, who revealed a folded piece of paper from his robes._

 _The spymaster jokingly cleared his throat before he started talking._

" _M.I_

 _As you can notice, there are two payments before you. The first is yours, as a reward from the council for your services," Tendou then gave a small pause and gave a glance to the emperor, whose eyes had widened slightly._

" _Council?" Goshiki gasped._

" _So apparently we just uncovered an entire rat nest" Shirabu added._

 _Wakatoshi then looked at Eita, who seemed more tense than normal._

" _The second is a payment is for the subject's caretakers," Tendo continued, although everyone had noticed that he had suppressed his normal teasing pitch, now speaking with a flat, slightly saddened tone._

" _Our sources indicated that they are tired of it and would seem to be eager to get rid of it"_

 _Wakatoshi didn't let the general see it, but his breath had completely caught in his throat. This wasn't the first time that he was part of an interrogation involving slave dealing, but he had yet to come across such a grisly scenario._

 _Tendou gave a side glance to the emperor, the corner of his mouth curving upward slightly, almost as if he were amused at the sight of the distressed monarch._

" _It seems that we are going to arrest way more people than we originally planned," Shirabu said._

" _However, if the locals refuse, then you are authorized to make use of force. I will take care of the official reports. Although if you do silence them, please inform me of the method of disposal, so I can know if to rule it as banditry or a monster attack. I will leave the details of the ordered ritual to you and your partners"_

" _Ritual?!", Shirabu exclaimed, turning his attention to Semi "Is this about the magic activity you were investigating?" he asked his fellow court sorcerer, who only nodded slowly._

" _Once you are done there" Tendou carried on, "make your way to the garrison indicated in the map. As you can see, there's a gate in the way, but it is lightly guarded. Your magic should take care of it, but do it quickly"_

" _I bet you didn't count on Tendou-san and Semi-san to be there, you scum!," Goshiki spat at the general, unable to contain his anger any longer. Wakatoshi rose a hand between the lieutenant and the accused. Tsutomu understood the emperor's que and took a deep breath to regain his composure._

 _Wakatoshi then gave a nod to Tendou, asking him to continue._

" _Once you make it here, you will receive a second payment. Then I will take care of transferring the subject to the capital for the auction._

 _Remember that we have a very tight schedule. If you don't make it by the tenth midnight after this letter is given to you, then the council will track you down to retrieve the subject themselves. Punishment will be severe._

 _Good luck with your journey_

 _K.H"._

 _Once finished, Tendou placed the paper back in his robes and looked teasingly at the general, who was shaking and clearly red with fury._

" _YOU INSOLENT RAT. THERE'S NOTHING IN THAT PIECE OF PAPER THAT COULD PROVE THAT I'M INVOLVED. A PAIR OF INITIALS PROVES NOTHING!", the elder official had started howling at this point, slightly startling the emperor and the other officials. Tendou only giggled gleefully, which made the general clinch his hands, as if he were readying himself to strangle the spymaster._

 _Kota only managed to take one step towards Tendou however, when Semi placed himself between them, his glare shooting daggers at the general._

" _Do you believe that we would have summoned the emperor if we didn't have more proof than that?", he cut in. Wakatoshi then realized that Eita was gripping his staff -cleverly disguised as a short walking baton- and almost seemed ready to snap at the official._

 _Just what was done to the captive that made him so mad? This wasn't Semi's first time apprehending slave dealers, after all._

" _Semi" Wakatoshi call was also a warning. He didn't want to cause a bigger scene, despite the gravity of the crime._

 _The court sorcerer took a couple of seconds to stabilize himself. Once he slightly clamed down, he turned his back to Kota, clearly not wanting to spend any other second looking at his eyes._

" _We also intercepted your communications, and I interrogated the dealer and the soldiers under your command. Personally," he said, putting clear emphasis in the last word._

" _Isn't hypnosis forbidden in interrogations?" Tsutomu whispered to Shirabu, who only nodded in response._

 _Semi seemed to have heard this, though. "It turns out you not only are a criminal, but also a weak general. Your soldiers are weak willed. I only had to point my staff at them and they started to sing like birds", he added while clenching his jaw._

" _It was really funny, though" Tendou giggled._

 _The court sorcerer only spared a side glance to his partner before turning back to face Kota, who was visibly pale by now._

" _When I showed them the portrait of the slave dealer, they all said that they saw you with him before the gate incident. I didn't even tell them what we were looking for. They also said that you gave him two bags of coins," he continued._

 _Kota was about to answer when Tendou cut in._

" _We also spoke with the neighbors, they said that the same wagon that we stopped was seen at your command post," he said with joy._

" _Tha-t-that doesn't-" Kota couldn't finish, as all of a sudden the sound of coins hitting the ground was heard. Looking down, he saw an opened sack of coins at his feet._

" _This isn't one of the bags that you gave to the dealer. Last night we intercepted another messenger," he then retrieved an envelope from his sleeve. Wakatoshi could only watch as the general seemed to become petrified as he recognized the seal._

" _General_

 _The council would want to solicit extra safety for one of our traders" Semi said bluntly._

" _Now I don't see any other general around here" Tendo chimed in "Also I forgot, this is the envelope the letter I just read came in", he added waving a similar slip of paper. "The rat had actually burned it as soon as we busted into his wagon but leave it to our Semi to put ashes and burnt wax back together", he added while playfully elbowing Eita._

 _Both Semi and Tendou passed the envelopes to Wakatoshi. He appreciated the blood red seal in both. A Two Headed dragon with one head spitting fire and the other holding a human body in its jaws, a symbol clearly meant to intimidate._

 _The emperor had never seen such design, but it was clear that both envelopes shared the same stamp._

" _Goshiki" he signaled._

 _The young lieutenant made his way to Kota, who seemed frozen. However, once Tsutomu grabbed his wrist the old man seemingly came back to life, attempting to release his arm. It only took one sharp kick from Tendou to the back of the general's knee to stop him from struggling further._

" _General Kota Hideaki" Wakatoshi addressed the disgraced military officer as Tsutomu handcuffed him._

" _You are under arrest for aiding slave dealing activities, benefiting from slave dealing practices, associating with slave traffickers and conspiring to falsify public records. You are now removed from your post and barred from ever associating with any official, civil or martial, within the borders of the Shiratorizawa empire", he stated in an ominous tone. "Anything to say in your defense?"_

" _Psst," Tendou playfully whispered at the now handcuffed Kouta. "If you want to keep your head, I would start talking about that council_ _ **right now**_ _," he added with a devilish smile._

 _The now-former official looked at the emperor's face, trembling more than ever now when confronted with the furious gaze, reminiscent of an eagle glaring down a helpless rabbit._

" _I-I'm just. I don do-don't" he started babbling, looking around and only finding more angered glares being shot at him. Even Tendou's eyes held the promise of unspeakable pain behind his teasing smile._

" _I—I w-was ju-just an-an inter-inter-int-intermediary. I'v-v-v-ve ne-ver seen them," he managed to get out between hiccups._

" _DO YOU EXPECT US TO BELIEVE THAT?!", Semi had finally snapped, menacingly pointing his staff at the older man's face. "THE PRISONER TOLD US THAT THIS ISN'T EVEN THE FIRST TIME YOU WORK FOR THIS COUNCIL!"_

 _Wakatoshi's eyes narrowed._

 _At the sound of the sorcerer's shouts, the disgraced officer dropped to his knees and bowed._

" _I NEVER SAW THEM, I SWEAR!" he began to cry out "I WOULD JUST DROP WHATEVER THEY NEEDED TO A STABLE NEAR A GARRISON IN THE CAPITAL AND THEN THE STUFF WOULD JUST DISSAPEAR!"_

 _Some of the members of the group gasped, Semi was one of them._

 _After taking a few deep breaths to stabilize himself, the court sorcerer crouched and grabbed Kota's head, forcing him to look the very furious mage in the face._

" _Disappear?" he hissed "What do you mean by that?"_

 _Kota only managed to gulp before answering. "I would drop anything inside the stable, then some smoke would come out, and after a couple of seconds everything would be gone, no matter what big. Aside from that, I only spoke with some messengers and some traders."_

" _A transportation spell" Shirabu stated. Wakatoshi nodded at the observation, but the emperor now had a few questions of his own._

" _Kota" he took a step towards the detainee "How many times have you delivered people to them?"_

 _The prisoner was visibly shaking at the steely gaze of the monarch, which now looked 10 times more intimidating since Kota was on his knees._

" _I-I only this time. I-I swear. Most times it was monster parts or stuff for sorcery. I c-can't remember a-all of them"_

 _The emperor took a deep breath, now even more disturbed. Not only had he uncovered an attempt to sell a person like a piece of meat, but there was also a smuggling ring running around the empire, with at least one trading point at the capital. "There are probably way more", he thought._

" _For how long do you did this?" he asked._

" _E-eight years"_

 _The garrison fell silent._

 _Wakatoshi felt both enraged and embarrassed. It was his duty to prevent such things from happening, and here he had a military official, a general non the less, admitting that he had helped smuggle contraband material for nearly a decade under his and his grandmother's nose. And there was now unmistakable evidence that pointed out to a wide network that could have easily operated for decades._

 _Despite having such power, Wakatoshi felt weak now, and he hated it._

 _He wondered how his grandmother would take the news. Tightening his fists and swallowing a barrage of insults that threatened to leave his mouth, he ordered Tsutomu to carry the prisoner away._

" _Take him to the army's main quarters in the capital. The martial court will dictate his final punishment, and tell the judges that he attempted to lie to my face" he added._

 _If Kota was pale as a ghost before, now he certainly looked like a bone, and only could drop his head down in defeat as the lieutenant carried him out of the courtyard._

" _Good job, you two" he mentioned to Tendou and Semi._

" _Finally! He said it!" the spymaster squeaked, much to the sorcerers' annoyance._

" _Your majesty" Eita started, approaching Wakatoshi with a concerned expression "There's another thing to discuss"_

" _Indeed," the emperor now looked at the chained dealer, which was almost forgotten amidst the heated exchange with Kouta._

" _I'm not talking about him"_

" _Hmm?" Wakatoshi looked up to Eita._

" _I was very thorough with my interrogation, and I made sure to restore all documents he tried to destroy in the fire. I doubt we can get more info from him. I wanted to talk about the victim", he explained, although Wakatoshi could notice how his eyes saddened when he changed the subject._

" _Right", the emperor didn't feel like asking Semi about why he seemed so concerned about this case, maybe he was more shocked by the existing of this trafficking network than he let on. "What can you tell me about it?"_

 _Semi visibly tensed, and Wakatoshi could notice him trying to avoid making eye contact with him for a split second. He looked like his thoughts were frozen for a moment._

" _I think you should see it in person". The sorcerer gestured to a door in the garrison that seemed like the entrance to an infirmary. "Please let me check is she's awake first, I'll come back when she's ready". He then made his way to the door in a hurried manner that seemed strange for Wakatoshi and Shirabu._

" _Right, they mentioned a ritual", the younger sorcerer said, "How bad is it Tendou?"_

" _Not that bad all things considered", Satori said calmly, much to Kenjirou's annoyance._

" _Coming from you that's not reassuring at all"-Tendou pouted at the response-"What ritual did they perform?"_

 _The spymaster took a second glance at the chained-up dealer, then back to the other two men._

" _The documents we retrieved from him said ´Ritual succeeded. Life essence was transferred to objective, but all my assistants were scorched alive. Not even ashes were left. Must request compensation to council" he stated in a matter of fact manner._

 _Wakatoshi just stood there with eyes wide open, trying to process_ _what the bloody hell did he just listen to_ _, while Shirabu eventually went from stupor to agitation._

" _WHAT? How can you say something like that so calmly?!" the young sorcerer shouted._

" _Easy there Kenjirou"_

" _Easy? You just said that someone performed a life transference ritual that resulted in several casualties! And you dare to say that the victim ´isn't that bad´?!", by this point though, Shirabu's exasperation had only resulted in the spymaster's amusement._

 _Wakatoshi had remained stationary for the time being, knowing full well that getting information out of Tendou would be difficult when he was this entertained, to say the least. The emperor looked back to the infirmary door, wondering why Eita was taking so long, not to mention, he had noticed how the sorcerer had seemed more agitated than normal during the interrogation._

 _Just as he thought of going to retrieve Semi himself, the door opened revealing a seemingly relieved Semi, who quickly made his way to the other three._

" _She's awake now and ready to see you, your majesty," he said. Eita then looked at the other two, who were still stuck in their one-sided argument. "What did he do now?" he asked referring to the spymaster._

" _He told us that there was a ritual involving life transference and that there were multiple casualties," Wakatoshi answered plainly, making Semi sigh in defeat._

" _I wanted to explain that myself," the sorcerer said in an annoyed tone "Tendou!"_

" _Yes Semi-Semi?" the spymaster replied, only upsetting his partner even more._

 _Semi only tightened his fists. "Get this guy out of here" he said gesturing to the chained-up dealer. "Kenjirou, you are coming with us"_

" _Ah? Sure", the younger sorcerer gave one last angry glance at Tendou, who calmly tugged at the chains of the prisoner, who slowly got up as the other three made their way to the infirmary._

" _Could you be so kind to explain this ritual business to us?" Wakatoshi said as they walked._

" _We did retrieve some information on the matter, but we can discuss that later" Semi answered without looking back to the emperor, much to the latter and Shirabu's concern._

 _Before Wakatoshi could press the issue further, Semi hurriedly opened the infirmary door, revealing a candlelit row of beds. Most of them were empty, although some had injured and sick soldiers, but one of them, which was at the end of the room, had a figure sitting on the bed instead of laying down._

 _It was small, very small. Wrapped in blankets, to the point only a small turf of bright red hair was made visible by the candle light._

" _A child?" Wakatoshi whispered, slightly horrified._

" _No, she's about our age. Please walk slowly, we don't want to wake up the other patients," Semi explained before stepping forward._

 _Once the three reached the bed, the figure shifted slightly, and at that moment, Wakatoshi saw two bright green orbs looking at him._

 _At first, the color reminded him of emeralds, but then he decided that this shade of green seemed way to warm to be associated with cold stones. No, this seemed more like freshly cut grass-_

" _ **I don't want to leave, Wakatoshi"**_

 _The words seemed to come from the back of the emperor's head, and for a moment his vision seemed to be blocked by a very different scene._

 _Instead of a dark room, he was in the middle of a field with the sun shining brightly on his face. Poppies reaching for miles and tickling his calves. But his attention was now in the tear stained face in front of him._

" _ **But my mom says that my dad is gone, and we can't stay anymore".**_ _Fiery locks framed glassy jade eyes, whose owner's fingers were tightly gripping the edge of her dress._

 _Wakatoshi was about to answer, but then he blinked, and the illusion was broken. He was once again in the candlelit infirmary, only this time he -somehow- was kneeling in front of the bed._

 _The girl was looking down at him, and for a second the emperor could see a spark of recognition in those green orbs, which he was sure was also in his own eyes as well._

 _The face in front of him seemed much different of the one he'd seen in his head though. Those green eyes were not weighted down by tear tracks, but deep eyebags instead. The round childish face from before now seemed bony, and he feared to see how much weigh the rest of her body lacked beneath the thin bed sheets she was wrapped with._

" _Wakatoshi…"_

 _It sounded gentle like a breeze, sweet like a bell chiming._

 _Yet, both seemed to forget they weren't alone._

" _Excuse me miss," Shirabu interrupted with a slightly annoyed tone. "You shouldn't address the emperor by name"_

 _The girl broke contact with Wakatoshi, who felt a strange pang inside his chest when she looked away. The poor woman looked at the two sorcerers beside the monarch, one of them looking seemingly irritated and the other…._

 _Semi was visibly facepalming._

" _Sorry about that, my lady" he said, emphasizing the last word and making Kenjirou and Wakatoshi turn their heads at him in confusion._

" _I-I'm so-so sorry!" the girl replied, blushing a lovely shade of pink and bowing her head, leaving only her red hair visible._

" _Is all right miss. Let me explain first," Eita gave a nod to Wakatoshi, who stood up and returned to the spot he was at before he had that strange flashback._

 _The court sorcerer then sat down next to the girl, only making her look even smaller._

" _Your majesty, you might not fully remember her, but this is Hatori Chise, the daughter of our former court sorcerer Hatori Yuuki" he stated, at that statement, Wakatoshi could feel his breath getting caught in his chest._

TA-DA

That's all for now. For reference, canonically Chise is REALLY SMOL compared to these volleyball giants: She's only 5.1.

Next: Chapter 1: Life kills me.

Comments are always appreciated.


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